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Episode44
Faith Rewarded As part of the ongoing refinement of our military strategy for the upcoming battle we determined that the Alliance fleet should delay its arrival until right before the projected arrival of the Ascendant fleet, thus springing our ambush on the Reavers' ambush in the most optimal fashion. A suitable asteroid belt a 4-Hour Block's FTL away from the Boron system was found, and we agreed to rendezvous there with the Tenacious Hound as well in order to pick up the Brightness Inducing Nanite Deploying Balloons that the Alliance techs had promised us, (the hope was that if we imbued the atmosphere of Boron D with a Brightness effect when we collapsed the Reavers' PR bubble, ideally the impact of the pressure wave would actually do some damage). On the way Pete completed the Probe Drone's other Special Payload, so we were at least ready to unleash our plan back at Boron D. Upon our arrival at the rendezvous with the Alliance armada we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the Veilos Defense Force Special Division Space Force Expeditionary Force, who presented us with three SF24-Blackbird space fighters from one of their carrier-based assault wings that had been temporarily assigned to the Alliance fleet. They looked to be admirably up to the task of battling Reavers in deep space, but OJ none the less felt obligated to spend some time tuning them up some more later on. Kiwi however, prepared for the potential upcoming space battle by researching a new Arch-Spell to let him teleport vast distances so that he will be able to literally punch enemy ships into submission. Meanwhile, thanks to Oz's mad epic tier Intergalactic Negotiation skillz, the Ascendant fleet was now equipped with the fake soul enhanced robotic decoy fleet disguised as wagon full of liquor-and-whores, I mean, an interstellar luxury resort casino cruise ship, and managed to at least temporarily divert the original Reaver fleet that had been chasing them. Skelgrax was not so easily distracted however, and maintained course, still due to catch the Ascendant fleet in a pincer movement with the Reaver fleet concealed at Boron D. As we headed the Hound back towards the Boron system we were dismayed to see that the initial battle between the Reavers and the Ascendant rear-guard was going very much in favor of the Reavers. That's what the mighty Ascendants get for refusing the Alliance's generous offers of anti-Reaver technology in exchange for renouncing Slavery, I suppose. They did manage to turn things around a bit towards the end, eventually delaying the Reavers two 4-Hour Blocks behind Skellgrax's arrival, but lost 20% of their fleet in the process. 2 hours before Skellgrax was due to arrive in system we put our plan into action. It started with one of Kiwi's followers opening a Shipgate to Boron D, just around the curve of the planet from the Storm where the Reavers were holed up, (queue the Yavinesque coming around the planet graphics, followed by the Bespin-sunrise sequence where Pete and Joe throw the probe out the rear cargo hatch. Picture lots of silhouettes. Followed by perhaps the most embarrassing episode of level 10 virgin probe piloting ever witnessed, as OJ and Pete tried their hardest to crash the Flyer, only failing because of all of the Pilot Re-Rolls and Trait Abilities and Bennys they had to compensate for all of the natural 1s and 2s they rolled at the first, slightest gust of wind to hit the probe. After a rocky start however, they got the hang of it, and were able to get the Flyer in a stable orbit circling above the storm. In relatively short order the Nano-brightness balloons were all deployed, and the Cyclonic Induction Ray Emitter had a firm grasp of the storm. The Reavers responded alarmingly fast to our manipulation of the vortex, redeploying their forces rapidly to adjust to the narrowing funnel as we tightened our grip, but we were eventually able to slam the eye wall into the PR bubble, destroying it! It was not conclusive if the Brightness effect going off actually increased the damage that the Reavers took, but at the very least it may have added to their confusion as the top half of the tall column of Reavers tried to escape up & out of the atmosphere, while those at the bottom, including both of the gargantuan mother-ships, (Yeah, Bitches!), got dragged down into the core of the planet. The Reavers sucked into the planet's core however, didn't seem to have been killed, and may only be stuck temporarily if they can somehow Gate out? It was as the 20% of the Reaver fleet that survived our ambush at Boron D was making its bedraggled way towards Boron C that an unimaginably huge Reaver Gate opened up nearby and Skellgrax came hurtling through, (an hour and a half ahead of schedule). From our vantage point lurking in the Hound behind Boron D we reviewed the battle plan, and determined that no, this was definitely not in it. As we attempted to figure out what to do, we turned of course to the Astrometrics Lab's advanced sensor system to surveill what was going on with Skellgrax. A planet is a big area to try & scan, but as far as we could tell, there was a giant zombie civil war raging, with the pro-Reaver faction apparently winning. With both of our Fleets over an hour away and the Reavers still in control of both Boron C and the nexus point, things were getting a bit concerning, but we agreed that if we were going to try & pull off the audacious plan that we were sure that the Zone Alpha crew would need to in order to succeed at their mission, we would definitely want a zombie civil war as a distraction. Just when things were at their darkest, our faith was rewarded, as an enormous Fairenhiem field erupted on Skellgrax's flank, wiping half the planet of Reavers, then causing it to explode! Our jubilation at this momentous occasion was rapidly tempered however, as yet another Reaver Gate opened, and a large chunk of the planet (conspicuously carrying the largest single Reaver signature we could detect) hurtled towards it, sucking a blast of Zombies, Reavers and planetary debris through with it as it went. With no time to lose we deftly determined with our Astro-Navigation skills that the Gate went to the Kovinus home-system, the purported location of the fabled Central Repository. Acting fast, we punched it and raced towards the rift at full speed. I guess the fleets will have to fight this battle without us after all! We can only assume the flyer probe-drone.circled above the storm on Boron D until the first time there was a gust of wind strong enough to require pilot input, and was then unceremoniously sucked into the core of the planet and crushed. Lost a midst the asteroids blasting through the gate and with our various anti-sensor and anti-souldar coatings and anti-Reaver fields apparently still working, the Tenacious Hound and the two SF-24 Space-Fighters piloted by Joe and Pete shot through into the Kovinus system. There was a discussion about installing Zombie Wipers on the cockpit windshields of the Ships, as the undead proved to be difficult to dodge when encountered at high densities. Upon our arrival, we saw that what was left of Skellgrax had blasted away from the Gate at Space Speed 800, (twice as fast as the Hound's best speed), and would be difficult to catch. None the less, for the moment we continued to follow Skellgrax from a distance, as we tried to track his trajectory & predict his destination. We also noticed that the massive exploding planet debris cone that had blasted through the Gate was strategically aimed directly at Kovinus prime, which seemed to excite the Kovinites to no end, causing them to launch all of their planetary defenses. Oz muttered something about his daughter, but we were all distracted watching with awe as Skellgrax extinguished like bugs any of the Kovinus defense that crossed his path. Meanwhile, we monitored the action in the Boron system from afar. The remnants of the Reaver Occupation were no match for the combined forces of the Alliance and (what was left of the) Ascendant fleets, and were soundly defeated. After the battle our fleet strength was 1.75, vs. an incoming Reaver fleet at somewhere slightly less than 1.0, (due to suffering indeterminate minor losses destroying the Ascendant rear-guard). Even these vastly improved odds seemed less than optimal given the awesome power of the Reavers and the Ascendants lack of Anti-Reaver technology, but rather than closing as our fleets regrouped at the edge of the system, the Reavers broke their formation and started sending off smaller waves of Reavers in all directions! Fortunately, our seasoned commanders didn't fall for this ploy, and managed to keep their fleets relatively coordinated, centralized and compact, to engage the Reavers only at a tactical advantage, and to respond in a timely fashion when they detected that many of the Reavers were reforming towards a specific spot in space. Meanwhile, still following Skellgrax, we started the Gravimetric Scan that was supposed to reveal location of the Central Repository. It proved to be in a different direction than the one that Skellgrax was heading in, leading us to question how to proceed. As is often the case, it was Kiwi's Nut that rose the occasion, throbbing in that special way that it does as it approaches Ley Lines. The presence of a Nexus point was confirmed when observations from the Astrometrics lab confirmed that Skellgrax had come to a stop, and was proceeding to open yet another quantum rift, which this time proved to open back to the spot near the Boron system where the remaining Reavers were assembling, (Note that this had nothing to do with our decision at this point to start the 4-hour ritual to open the Shipgate directly to the apparent location of the Central Repository). Back in Boron space, the remnants of the Reaver fleet were funneling towards the gate, with our various fleets in hot pursuit. But a sudden diplomatic obstacle presented itself, as it turned out that the Kovinites were not prepared to authorize the Alliance portion of our now rapidly combining fleet to enter their home-system! Good to know years of implacable hostility weren't a total waste I guess? At least Oz's last minute negotiation convinced the Ascendants to let the Vielos Defense Force Ships help the Ascendant fleet chase the bulk of the Reavers through the gate, while the rest of the Alliance fleet was left behind near the Boron system to clean up the stragglers. Now instead of a 2 to 1 fleet advantage with the Reavers cut off from Skellgrax, it will be closer to even fleets, plus Mini-Skellgrax. Doesn't look good for Kovinus? (Insert gratuitous comment about Oz's daughter getting raped by an asteroid here). Despite the threat, we stand by our decision to focus on the primary objective: to locate the Central Repository and the long lost information that could lead us to the Star of the Progenitors. Pete and Joe stowed the fighters back in the hold of the Hound, (note to self; build tractor beam landing system), and at the end of the 4-hour ritual block we gated to the source of the gravitational anomaly that we had detected. Our Reaver sense was tingling when we arrived, so it's a safe bet getting to the Repository may be easier said than done. 33 Generic 11 Combat for the logger . Back to Space Junk LogCategory:Space Junk